Remote Ischemic Conditioning (RIC) Improves Neurobehavioral Outcomes and Cerebral Blood Flow in a Mice Model of Traumatic Brain Injury

School Name

South Carolina Governor's School for Science & Mathematics

Grade Level

12th Grade

Presentation Topic

Physiology and Health

Presentation Type

Mentored

Oral Presentation Award

3rd Place

Abstract

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a major health issue that causes death and disability in many patients worldwide. However, there are extremely limited treatment options. Remote limb Ischemic Conditioning (RIC) is the simple, inexpensive, and safe use of repetitive inflation of a blood pressure cuff on a limb to protect distant organs from ischemic injury. Previous research has shown RIC to be protective after experimental focal cerebral ischemia and stroke. The hypothesis of this research is that RIC is a safe and effective therapy to improve functional outcomes after TBI. A group of 12 adult male mice (strain C57) received a craniotomy and a 3mm impact to mimic a moderate TBI. The control group included four mice which underwent the same surgical procedures, but no impact. Of the 16 mice, eight received RIC-therapy, while eight received a sham-treatment. These methods were repeated once daily starting 1-hour post-TBI. The effect of RIC on Cerebral Blood Flow (CBF) was measured using laser speckled imaging 1-5 days after TBI. Behavioral tests were used to measure anxiety levels by tracking time spent in an open field. The results of the laser speckled imaging shows that RIC significantly improves CBF. Concurrently, Open Field data shows that RIC treated mice have significantly lowers anxiety levels at 5-days post-TBI when compared to control mice. Therefore, it can be concluded that RIC is a cost effective, safe, effective treatment which improves outcomes in male mice post-TBI. The next step is to test this protocol in clinical trials.

Location

Founders Hall 142 A

Start Date

3-30-2019 11:30 AM

Presentation Format

Oral Only

Group Project

No

COinS
 
Mar 30th, 11:30 AM

Remote Ischemic Conditioning (RIC) Improves Neurobehavioral Outcomes and Cerebral Blood Flow in a Mice Model of Traumatic Brain Injury

Founders Hall 142 A

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a major health issue that causes death and disability in many patients worldwide. However, there are extremely limited treatment options. Remote limb Ischemic Conditioning (RIC) is the simple, inexpensive, and safe use of repetitive inflation of a blood pressure cuff on a limb to protect distant organs from ischemic injury. Previous research has shown RIC to be protective after experimental focal cerebral ischemia and stroke. The hypothesis of this research is that RIC is a safe and effective therapy to improve functional outcomes after TBI. A group of 12 adult male mice (strain C57) received a craniotomy and a 3mm impact to mimic a moderate TBI. The control group included four mice which underwent the same surgical procedures, but no impact. Of the 16 mice, eight received RIC-therapy, while eight received a sham-treatment. These methods were repeated once daily starting 1-hour post-TBI. The effect of RIC on Cerebral Blood Flow (CBF) was measured using laser speckled imaging 1-5 days after TBI. Behavioral tests were used to measure anxiety levels by tracking time spent in an open field. The results of the laser speckled imaging shows that RIC significantly improves CBF. Concurrently, Open Field data shows that RIC treated mice have significantly lowers anxiety levels at 5-days post-TBI when compared to control mice. Therefore, it can be concluded that RIC is a cost effective, safe, effective treatment which improves outcomes in male mice post-TBI. The next step is to test this protocol in clinical trials.